Sembawang Tamil Methodist Church (STMC) has a rich history of 87 years. The pioneering work of the church, under the supervision of Rev J. A. Subramaniam, commenced in 1928 at the Seletar Naval Base as a house church to minister to Indians residing around the Naval Base and the Sembawang estate. From 1948, worship services were held at a Tamil school at Jalan Kechil. In 1999, by the grace of God the church moved to a new building in its current location at Yishun Street 11.
Our church vision, based on Matthew 28:19, is to “Be disciples and make disciples for Christ” while the theme for 2021 is: “Love the Lord and obey His commands”. The main aspects of the vision are for each believer to grow in the spiritual disciplines and be a faithful disciple of Jesus, growing in God’s Word and prayer life as well as focusing on evangelism and outreach ministry to residents in Yishun and nearby estates.
Sharing the Gospel, social outreach and missions are key ministries. Church members regularly visit families in the neighbourhood and have developed strong relationships with them. The families warmly welcome us into their homes for times of sharing, prayer, and fellowship. The church also regularly blesses families in need with grocery supplies. The month of June 2021 was focused on evangelism. We held an evangelism seminar through Zoom where church members were challenged to make concerted efforts and plans to reach out to families and friends with the Gospel of Christ.
By God’s grace, the church has adopted a village of about 140 families in Myanmar. Over the last four years we have provided financial support for local missionaries to visit the village weekly to conduct Bible classes and provide meals for the children once a month. The families also appreciated the food hampers distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The church faces a big challenge as the lease for its land expires in about four years. We are getting together with our partner churches sharing the church premises to work with HDB to extend the lease for 30 years. We trust in God as our provider as we pray and work to raise funds required for the lease extension. Please do pray for us.
STMC members are continuing to draw closer to the Lord through prayer and growing in the Word of God. What God requires of His people and every tenet of right living in the Bible is founded on the commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30–1 NIV).
SEMBAWANG TAMIL METHODIST CHURCH
(Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference)
3 Yishun Street 11 (Level 3), S(768645)
6257-0116
Please check our website for service timings.
Mrs Susan Thomas and Mr Selvathurai are members of Sembawang Tamil Methodist Church (STMC). / Photos courtesy of STMC